Don't count me out because I am a girl!
by Dreams of Harmony
Summary: In a drum line that does not have a pit, one girl still wants to join. The only issue is that she cannot play a drum to save her life, so she enters on the marching bell set. Enter Harmony Adams, a girl who is struggling for the acceptance of her line while dealing with a harder than average life. Rated T for possible content in the future.
1. Prologue

"You suck at drums! What are you doing at the auditions for drum line?" the harsh question rang out over the practically empty band room as a petite soon-to-be-freshman walked in through the back entrance, trying to sneak in to avoid said questioning, but apparently it had not worked. There was another fifteen minutes before the actual auditions started, and the boys had their eyes glued to any and every entrance to keep an eye out for the local 'God of Drums', aka the drum line instructor.

"They _do_ have a marching glockenspiel." the girl retorted calmly, though seeing the dumbfounded look on the boy's face, she sighed, "That metal 'fairy instrument' that I play." she added in an annoyed tone. Unfortunately, this girl had been the product of the boys being boys throughout Junior High. She was stuck on anything and everything that could possibly ruin their reputation. It was amazing, embarrassing and fun to watch as the girl would play a part on the glockenspiel, then run over to a xylophone, play a funky lick, hit a chime to give an ominous feeling and then go over to marimba to enhance the ominous feeling. If anything, she was more dedicated to the section then the boys.

"This is a _**drum line **_as in… we play _**drums**_." a different boy responded. "There is no need for such a thing as..._that_." he added. From the looks of the other boys, they agreed. They clearly disliked this girl for whatever reason. It obviously was not because she had taken the spotlight away from them in the terms of taking a snare part and outshining them. The boy looked like he was about to say something when the door behind the girl opened and entered a tall-ish man of about 5'10. A back pack was slung over his shoulder and at his side was a trapezoid shaped hard plastic case.

"Harmony, come get this and go grab a harness." the man instructed. The only girl in the room turned and took the case with ease, as if the twenty pounds, if not thirty, were a bag of feathers.

Silently, she walked over to a door and opened it, stepping over the drums that were on the floor instead of their assigned shelves and made her way over to a wall full of carriers. Grabbing one that still had a bar that went across the back; she set the case down and opened the said case, revealing a thirty two bar, 2.5 octave marching bell set with matte gray bars. Sitting down, she grabbed a drum key that was near her and started to adjust the carrier so it'd fit the bell set. Once she got the hooks set and tightened, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a wrench to start adjusting the carrier so it'd fit her. Within a few minutes, the girl was back out in the band room wearing her bell set and had a pair of mallets in her hand.

~_One year later~_

"Where is Harmony?" the question seemed sudden as the room full of drummers became silent. The veterans that knew of the girl were dumbfounded. They had yet to get attacked, hugged, slapped, bitten or yelled at by the incoming sophomore. It had been a rather 'quiet' wait for the drum line instructor...who had indeed been the one to ask the question, fifteen minutes after the auditions were supposed to start.

"Haven't seen her all week. She was not even at the meeting that we held at Alex's place. But, I do not know if she actually got invited." One of the boys answered as he turned to a boy who was too busy on his phone to pay attention, "Did you tell her about it Mark?" he asked. When he heard no answer from Mark, he grabbed a 'lightly' splintered drumstick and chucked it at the boy, having it land right in his gut. Seeing as he now had Mark's attention, he sighed, "Did you invite Harmony to the meeting this last week?" he asked again, ignoring the staring newbies.

The boy called Mark looked up from his cell phone and shook his head, "It was a drum line meeting. Like I said before...drum line is for drums only. Who needs her on _that_ when she even sucks at that most times? She is the most useless player here. George is even better than her!" he explained as if it was obvious. Even if it sounded harsh and unbelievable, a few of the boys, mainly those that were incoming sophomores, nodded in agreement. But that statement had created a silence in the room and the faint sound of a slamming door and fading fast paced footsteps could be heard. A few seconds later, the sound of multiple cell phones on vibrate broke that eerie silence as apparently, the entire line got the same text message. '_Sorry...I will not participate in drum line. Have a good season.'_ Within seconds later, the sound of two cell phones vibrating went off. Slowly, the captain of the drum line and the instructor looked down at their phones before their eyes widened slightly before the instructor flipped his phone shut and slipped it into his pocket, the captain following suit.

Without a word, the instructor walked over to a snare drum and slapped a sheet of music up on a stand in front of it. "We are doing this in the order of age. The youngest will go first. You'll do the assigned snare piece and then the piece for the instrument you selected. If anyone mentions anything about Harmony...you _**will**_ be disqualified from this audition and for the auditions to come." he announced calmly. Slowly, a small, geeky looking boy stepped up and fumbled with the snare sticks in his hand. When the instructor counted the boy off, he fumbled right from the beginning, earning a few snickers from the upper classmen, but hey, he was nervous, what do you expect? After he pathetically finished, the rest of the incoming freshmen were not much better.

As expected, the older a drummer was, usually the better they got until it hit the incoming seniors who honestly were taking the auditions as jokes. Instead of the given tempo of the standard 120, they started to treat the tempo as cut time and instead of marching in place; they were hopping from foot to foot. It showed both their skill and their stupidity, mainly their stupidity. Once all of the incoming seniors, except for the captain, completed the auditions, the incoming freshmen were shocked and awed by the performances. As wee little drummers who idolized anyone with 'talent' in their instrument, they thought that these boys were gods.

"Alright. Paul and I will go over the auditions and we will let you know the results in the next week or two." The instructor said before looking at the Drum line captain. "Dismissed! Paul…go check on Harmony. She should be at the downtown campus." He added.

~Half year later~

"Woo! That was fun!" a boy's voice shouted as a mass of students made their way from the football field. Most of them were covered in sweat and had instruments in their hands. But the entire battery section was not among them. "To think that we shut out the opponent…and they have the guts to challenge our battery. Everyone! Hurry up and get your instruments put away. We have ten minutes to return to the field to watch the challenge!" the same boy shouted, by the way everyone listened, he was probably the leader of sorts.

In the ten minutes that the band had been gone, both of the drum lines had gotten down to the field. Most of the ten minutes had been waiting for the actual football players, coaches and refs to get off of the field. Though seeing the two lines at the entrance gate at the fifty yard line, most of the players stayed on their respective benches as the two lines marched in, each at the 49 yard 'line'.

In the middle of one side was a girl wearing a bell set. Her hair was pinned back, but she was not sweating, or breathing heavily. Once the line that had the girl in it were all on their 49 yard line, the boy up front raised his head, "Line atten-hut!" he shouted, hearing the slapping of heels together, a small smirk crossed his lips, "Mark time!" he added to the additional shout as quarter notes started being tapped on one of the snares. "Line, right face!" he shouted as the entire line turned to look at their opponents, even the girl! It was three bars later that a melody could be heard from the said girl as she kept her eye on the person in front of her from the opposing line. Though as the melody crescendoed, the girl's hands stopped moving rather abruptly and four beats later, a cymbal crash could be heard as the actual line started their part of the piece, getting a loud roar of cheers from the crowd. The line would abruptly stop at times and the silence would be filled by the metallic melodic noise from the only girl on the line.

By the time the line had finished, the fans in the stands had seemed to increase by about one hundred and fifty as the home team's marching band returned, still in uniform. You could tell they were excited because their cheers were ten times louder than the regular people.

Within minutes, the challenge was over with. The home team's piece of about five minutes had more thought into its completion compared to the visiting line's simple cadence that lasted about three minutes at best. With both lines being dismissed, they left the field in an orderly fashion, but once those shoes hit the cement, the two lines turned into blobs as the home team's marching band players, cheer leaders and football players swamped the line. One girl, however, was ignored as she headed up to the school in silence. She entered the building and went to the drum room and put her instrument away before hanging her carrier on the wall before she took her jacket off and grabbed her phone. She had been feeling it go off since about three minutes after half time and she never had a good chance to check it. But reading a text from her father's boss, the girl's eyes widened slightly.

Soon, her thoughts were disturbed as a loud crashing noise met her ears. It was not normal, it sounded like metal, wood and a body hitting wood. "I don't give a ####! It's not like you all ever tried including her into your plans!" the voice of the captain shouted, "If anything, she has more balls then all of you combined. She has always lived in a father only house, her mother died while giving birth. Do you know how hard it is to constantly think that you are the reason you took your father's partner in life away?" the same voice shouted, "And even now, her father had been shot a half a year ago…instead of letting it get to her, she still showed up with a smile on her face! She is constantly smiling and being happy despite how shitty her ###### life is. Why in god's name do you think I would not choose someone else?" the shouting died down in the locker room and the faint noise of panting could be heard as the captain cooled down. "She is going to be captain for the next two years. Live with it or get off of my ###### line." He finished coldly before he entered the main room and walked over to the drum room. Opening the door, he saw none other than Harmony, sitting on the floor, clutching her phone in her hand. Walking over, the captain tried to get the girl's attention but seeing as she had zoned out, he grabbed the phone and read the message. His eyes widened at what he read. Without a word, he closed her phone and tucked it into his pocket before he squatted down and picked the girl up before he left the room in full uniform. "Someone call Andy and tell him to come close the band room. Then have him call me!" he shouted as he walked through the halls to the exit that was closest to where his car was parked.

An hour later, said boy was standing in a too brightly lit hallway that stunk of medical supplies. The girl's sobs could be heard from the closed door behind him and his head bowed slightly. The girl never cried. She was only happy…for her to sob like that only meant one thing. "Dammit!" he growled. Life certainly was not fair. In an accident involving drunk drivers, why is it always the innocent ones that get hurt…or worse and the actual drunk driver merely gets out of the car and flees?

One week later, a girl stood next to a pile of dirt, hiding the hole with a casket hovering above it from her view. She was wearing all black, a black lace shirt with a black tank top underneath and black pants and black shoes. Despite the chilly breeze and the abnormally cold temperature, the girl merely hugged herself for warmth. It was as if she was punishing herself for what had happened to her father. As she was standing there, the police were about to finish the ceremony with the gun salute. Each time the guns would go off, the girl would flinch, but no tears were coming from her eyes. But each time she would flinch the grip on her hands would tighten as if she was trying to hold back the tears. The guns had finally stopped and she heard the bugle from a slight distance start to play. It was then that she felt a warm jacket be placed over her shoulders and a man wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him. The man that encouraged her to keep going with percussion, offering her free private lessons so she could be at the same skill level with most of the boys but on mallets instead of drums. The man who, out of his own pocket, purchased the marching bell set for her so she could be in the drum line.

"Harmony…" he murmured quietly as he looked down at the girl as the crowd slowly made their way back to their cars, not even attempting to make some form of acknowledgement to the grieving daughter. However, as soon as most of the crowd left, a few people standing in the back moved over to the girl and all of them surrounded her in an uncharacteristic group hug, even the boys that had hated her involvement in their drum line.

_~Four months later~_

"Attention…OI! SHUT UP!" the voice of the captain shouted as the entire line, Harmony included, sat in the dining room of one of the wealthier members. His house was the largest and his family always agreed to host the line for their meetings. Hearing nothing, the captain continued, "As is tradition…it is time for us seniors to step down and to concentrate on Finals." He announced, "Mainly so we can hopefully boost our grades up enough to get taken off of the probation lists for our colleges." He added, earning a few snickers from those seniors that were leaving as well. "Also…as is tradition…we do not vote on who our leaders will be. But they're appointed by us." His voice stayed firm though as he glanced around the large table, his eyes locked onto the only female present. She had changed. Despite being the loud obnoxious girl she had been when she first started the line, she now was silent, barely spoke a word unless she was spoken too. Perhaps that was why she was currently being surrounded by the boys that were her age.

"Anyways…it is time to announce who will be our successors. These decisions are final. We have already discussed our choices with Andy and he seems to agree. If you have any questions…go talk to him and leave us out of it." The captain announced before he turned to a senior, "Ethan."

Soon, a boy stood up and walked to the head of the table that was purposely left empty. "I Ethan Dunn, treasurer of the West Lake Central High School's Drum line choose the incoming senior George Jones to be the new treasurer of the West Lake Central High School's Drum line." He announced before he watched as a wimpy looking boy stood up and walked to the head of the table, behind Ethan and stood at attention.

"Sean."

Hearing his name, the boy called Sean walked up to the head of the table as Ethan went to sit down and he faced the crowd, minus George, "I Sean Hall, vice-captain of the West Lake Central High School's drum line choose incoming senior, Alex Blanc, to be the new vice-captain of the West Lake Central High School's drum line." He announced. Silently, he watched as Alex stood from his chair and walked over to stand next to George.

Slowly, Sean moved back towards his seat as Paul made his way up to the empty head of the table. A few of the boys were chatting as Sean moved to sit down, but once Paul was standing at the front of the table, the room became silent. With a deep breath, he slowly blinked before he nodded, "I Paul Dubois, captain of the West Lake Central High School's drum line choose incoming Junior, Harmony…" before he could finish, the entire underclassmen half of the drum line erupted in complaints, but Paul raised his hand, "Like I said, Andy approved our choices. If you have any complaints…take it up with him." He announced, "And…going against tradition, I will tell you why I chose her…who is the one who comes in early and sets up each and every instrument for marching. She knows each carrier and instrument's owner. She makes copies of the music that we will be rehearsing and despite how bad her life outside and inside the line is…she is constantly smiling. I believe that she has what it takes to be a great captain." He finished, but when he looked over at the girl, she was still in her chair.

"Harmony…get up here." It was Alex. He was standing with a hand on his hip, glaring at the girl who was ruining the ceremony. He watched as the girl got up and walked over to stand next to him. Without permission, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a small smile.

"These are your new officers. All of you that are in the line next year…you _will_ respect them and honor any decision they make." Paul announced, leading the line in a round of clapping.

It was then that the line was forced to accept this girl completely. They knew how Andy viewed the girl as his own daughter and they also knew that going to him to oppose the decision was practically suicide. However…they did not know that heading into the next season was when Harmony changed.

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Wow! 3,230 words! Sorry that it is so much and that this was so rushed. I typed my first chapter of the story and realized that it had so many holes in it and decided to do a prologue that led up to the first chapter. Since the first chapter happened during Harmony's junior year…I needed to get two years of high school into one chapter. Just saying…this is all a work of my imagination. If there somehow is a school called West Lake Central that has a drum line…this is NOT based off of them. Characters are loosely made around me and people that I have interacted with throughout my life…primarily while in a drum line in my area. Also…those ##### you see somewhere near the middle…that's colorful language. You can insert your own pretty colorful language to fit your own views of what was said.

Please read and review…constructive criticism is allowed. No flaming please. I also know that this chapter was rushed…

Also…if you have any characters that you would like to have in this story, please include a name, age, appearance and instrument of choice. I am debating on if this should turn into a full out marching band story or just stick with drum line. Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 1

Hello! Sorry for the delay! I did have the chapter already written, but I went through and did a lot of editing. I must admit, before the editing, Harmony was screaming Mary-sue without me realizing it. Anyways, I did explain part of her past. I also did try to hint at the tension between the line and Harmony. I realize it did not fit the title at the end of the prologue, but that was not my intention.

I want to say THANK YOU! To Rachelle31, her review was awesome, even the criticism, and I must say, I hope you review more. To anyone else who reads this…please review! I want to know what you think. If you think that Harmony is a Mary-sue…please let me know so I can stop it. I do try to make characters mary/gary-sues…but only in fan-fictions where the rest of the cast ooze out the same feeling. Anyways, onto the first chapter!

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The lights were distracting. The constant loop of red that flashed a quick white before going to blue...or was it blue that flashed a quick white before going to red? Either way, it made any person unfocused. "I already told you. I had no idea." a girl's voice reached out, barely heard over the large crowd of students that were corralled out behind the local high school, "I come in two hours before practice and lock myself in a room until five minutes before rehearsal starts." the voice continued, "If they are smoking and drinking _and _they're doing it out in their car, then how can I see them do it?"

"Don't you smell it when you're near them?" an officer asked. They were pressing her. She was the leader of the drum line, she was the leader of the group that seemed to be at the center of this bust, she should know something!

"Like I said! I'm in the practice rooms. During practice we do not talk and..." the girl stopped talking for a second as she looked at the lights on top of one of the cruisers. The girl paused for a minute until she heard the faint snapping noise of one of the officer's fingers, "Like I said, we do not talk during practice, it is forbidden. As for smelling...if I am practicing or at rehearsal, I could be next to a burning pile of treated wood and I would not be able to smell it." Okay, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was partly true…kind of. "I focus on performing and the director's instructions. It is not like I am near them anyways. Drummers, they have their own area. Since I do not play drums, I am not allowed within that area, even if I am captain." the girl responded coldly before she turned and saw another uniform. "I will take any kind of test if you do not believe Me." she said calmly before her eyes landed on the flashing lights...again. Why were they so distracting? Was that the purpose of leaving them on?

Within minutes, the girl was walking along a line that marked the two sides of the driveway. However, her eyes caught the lights for the fourth time that night and she tripped. Standing up, the girl attempted to start over when she was interrupted.

"Do the one leg stand." the command was harsh as if the officer was already saying she was guilty. She did not show signs of slurring and she claimed to not know anything, even though she probably did and she was safe on the breathalyzer. But when the girl nodded and closed her eyes, the man's eyes widened slightly in anger. Instead of them getting a chance to mock her, she was mocking them! Calmly, the girl's one foot raised off of the ground and her arms calmly moved out to the side, "One-thousand... two-thousand... three-thousand... four-thousand... five-thousand..." the girl counted slowly, no slips in the pace she set and her body stayed still, a feat for a perfectly sober being! With an almost animalistic growl, the officer pulled out his pen-light and stood in front of her before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Alex, no matter how hard you try, she will pass. She is the daughter of Michael." a female said calmly, "After what happened...she will never even touch a bottle of alcohol." she added as she walked over and looked at the girl with closed eyes, "Raise your right heel off of the ground." she ordered and almost instantly, the drummer rose up so she was only balancing on the ball of her right foot. "Alright Harmony, get back inside. Just...watch after your boys better, well the ones that come back in." she ordered.

"Yes...Chief Allyson." the girl murmured as she lowered her foot, but almost lost balance. Shaking her head, the girl turned and started to limp away leaving a fuming officer behind.

To say Alex was fuming was an understatement, he was downright pissed! He had been mocked by a teenage girl...AND his supervisor allowed it. "But Michael...wasn't that the officer who had refused promotions to stay out in the field and that had been killed by a drunk driver while in pursuit of a robber? He was always working, he had a daughter?"

"His wife died while giving birth...Harmony was his only family and with her having a busy schedule, it allowed him to stay longer than needed. She could take care of herself without him worrying." the chief explained. "It's ironic…the girl's name. Her mother was a musician and with him being a police officer, it is hard to figure out which meaning her name has." She mused as she turned and started to take care of the kids who were the root of the problem. Parents needed to be called, students would have to be booked and where in the hell was the music director? Or at least a responsible parent?

A while later, most of the boys on the line entered the room, rubbing their eyes. So, the lights had gotten to them too. "We will continue our rehearsal before the rest get in. Who knows when Grass will arrive to start the full band rehearsal." Harmony announced as she looked at the instruments that had been set up on their stands. "Alright. Let's start with...Funky Prince." she called out, earning groans from the underclassmen and cheers from the upperclassmen. Funky Prince was exactly what it sounded like; a funky, off beat almost swing type of cadence that had the royal air to it. Sometimes, some of the leading trumpets would join in just for the heck of it. One of them even had their parts written out!

Sadly, right as they were about to start rehearsal, a police officer came in. "Harmony…come with me." The officer ordered. She recognized him as her father's partner. She never had completely forgiven the man. He had called in sick on the night of her father's accident. But apparently she had not moved from her spot since she heard the command again, "Harmony, come with me."

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So, what did you think? Please let me know!

To Rachelle31, I apologize for the profanity…I promise I do not use it much! But this is two chapters in a row


	3. Chapter 2

Hello all! I must thank **Pirate-Spy-Demigod-Wizard **for adding this story to her favorites and for following the story! To all of you that are reading without saying anything...please, at least just put one review in! I do not know what you all think and why I have these views. Let me know what you like and do not like. Anyways...onto the story!

**1/5/2013: Update in the bottom notes!**

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When the girl walked outside with the officer, she did not even look at the man. Before her father's death, there would have been small talk going on, but it seemed like right after the funeral, the girl immediately stopped talking to this man unless it was necessary. Looking at the cop cars that had kids in the back seats, the girl pinched the bridge of her nose. "Chief Allyson, can they all get out for a minute?" she asked calmly, turning to the only female officer present.

Seeing the woman nod, the officers in charge of the boys helped them all up. "Line up, all of you." The girl ordered, seeing none of them move, Harmony frowned. "I do not care that your minds are too filled with egotistical thoughts. Just get into line…now." The girl ordered again. Seeing the boys stand still, the officers decided to step in and each started to drag a boy until they were in a line. Some of the officers knew of Harmony. She could have a temper that could rival a drunkard on a rampage…usually, she never got that bad.

With a small sigh, the petite brunette Junior stood facing the line, "This is an order that you all will obey. As of now, all five of you boys are removed from the Drum line until further notice by either Andy or the band director. As for now…I leave the rest up to the police. Do not come back to this band room during drum line practice and do not suck the rest of those boys into your shenanigans." She said calmly, though seeing the look in one of the boy's eyes, the girl smirked as she walked up to him and watched as he glared at her. "Mark…this is why you are not the captain. Paul never told me…but face it, you are still a kid. Right now proves such. If you do not want me as captain…then come and over throw me. If you can get back onto the line." She said calmly. She could tell that he wanted to punch her. But with his hands being restrained, he could not.

"Chief Allyson…I am not going to try and talk you out of taking them. You know my views on such things. Just…do not go easy on them because they are still, legally speaking, kids." She offered as she turned to head back inside, but a hand caught her arm. Her eyes went out of focus when she heard the familiar phrase that she had been hearing for the last few months now, '_Harmony…we need to talk.' _Turning, the girl looked at the man who still had his hold on her, "Let go of me…I do not know you." She said quietly, but the officer did not let go. He pulled the girl closer to him and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her head into his chest.

"Cry. You blame me for not being there that night…but if I was in the car, what could I have done? I was out sick for that entire week Harmony." The officer murmured as he lowered his head, "Please…stop doing this to yourself and to anyone who cares about you." He added before he felt the girl pull away, causing his arms to drop to his side. He did not say anything as he watched the girl run into the building without looking back. With a sigh, he turned to the line of boys that were still there and he walked up to them. "You are all of the ones that do not treat her as a captain…I will make sure your punishment is a living, breathing…" before he could finish, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Given how slim it was, he knew it was the chief telling him to leave it.

When Harmony re-arrived in the band room, the entire line became silent, looking at the slightly red-eyed captain, waiting for the unasked question's answer. "They're not coming back. I banned them until further notice by Andy or the Band Director. For now…we are re-arranging. Since three of the five boys banned were snares and one was on bass and the other on Tenor…we are going to do this. Alex, I know you prefer tenor…but for the time being, I'll take yours and you move to snare. Tony…go grab Bass Drum 1. We might not be able to do our cymbal visuals with five players…but we need that spot on Bass Drum filled." The girl ordered. She could feel the eyes on her as she looked around. "The tenor drum has melodic parts Alex…come over to my place. We should have a meeting." Harmony announced, she could hear a few hushed 'Yes!' comments, but nothing else. It was a dark-ish time. One-fifth of the of cadences…I can manage." She reassured the line, but now the look changed. For the three years while on the line, she had not touched a drum beyond setting up or tearing down, and now she is forcing herself into a spot of the 'coveted Tenor' spot. Usually, she would not do much, but she had to manage. One tenor, no matter how good he was, could carry the sound in a fully, or mostly fully, staffed Drum Line. Not many realized that there was a fine balance in the instrumentation of these things.

"For now…I will cancel rehearsal. Anyone who is switching instruments…look over your new parts. We will come back in two days. None of us work tomorrow…so use that time. line was on their way to the local precinct along with a good portion of the band. Hearing a door, the girl turned to look at the drum majors that walked in with their assistants. Yes, for not having a pit, each drum major had two assistants. "How bad is it?"

"Almost the entire low brass section and large portions scattered around the rest. It'll be a miracle if we can recover…"

"Ah…we're cancelling practice on our end. We had to rearrange instrumentation, so we need to learn our new parts. We should be ready by practice at the end of the week…if we have practice." Harmony responded as she slipped her bell set into the case and slammed the lid shut. They were planning for the worse, disbanding the entire marching band and possibly firing the director. Yeah…that would not be good at all, but Andy at least had connections elsewhere. If he were to be fired, he could get a job pretty much anywhere else.

"Alright, pack up and get out of here! If you have to call parents for a ride, let Harmony or I explain the situation to them. Anyone who is driving, be careful and as Harmony said…shape up. We will probably be watched, and we cannot afford any more losses. Also, this will probably be hitting the news…if anyone asks, don't reply stupidly." Alex announced as he grabbed his tenor and moved over to a case and slipped the drum in. Once the line left, Alex ran a hand through his hair and looked at the captain. She looked horrendous. Now that it was just them and the Drum majors, the captain let the stress show as she sat down and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Come on. I'll have Simon cook something up for dinner." He did not agree with Harmony's decision, however, he did see where she was coming from. The Bass Line was something that could not be tampered with too much. That alone was a group that required extreme teamwork, meaning, Harmony could not enter, along with the Cymbals. She truly could not play a single drum (snare) to save her life, meaning, she was going to force herself to play the tenors. He still did not completely like her, especially being a captain and being younger than him, but she put the line before herself AND she managed to keep the boys in line…somewhat. But he was nervous to see how the line would treat her…especially now that she would be 'one of them'.

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Dun dun DUN! So...it was not that bad...was it? Hope to hear from you guys soon. It may be a while until I update again. Apparently at work I am the person who gets stuck with all the odd jobs that no one wants to do...and I have to do it on top of my regular duties (Which do take up most of the day). I'll try to write chapter 2 soon.

**1/5/2013:** Sorry for the delay! Work load has cut down, but I had a paper to write that was more difficult than I thought. Anyways...next semester is a laid back one and I am taking the same language class for the umpteenth time since it never transfers...I will start the next chapter by next week and hopefully have it posted by the 12th!


	4. Chapter 3

_Buzz taptaptap buzzzzzz_

"Harmony, you're not rolling right. You keep doing the open roll…right here, it is a buzz roll and here it is not even a roll." Alex lectured as he pointed to the spots on the sheet of music in front of the girl. "You're not on your mallets anymore…you do not roll everything that is larger than a half note and there are different kinds of rolls to use…I told you three times already!" he added.

Frowning, the girl sighed as she sat down in the chair and yawned, "I know! But it's a habit…and its anything larger than a quarter note! It's your guys' fault anyways…if you would have let me play something other than mallets for the last six years, then I would not be having this issue!"

"I haven't been in band with you until this last year! Don't blame me!"  
"I wasn't blaming you! I was blaming the rest!"  
"You said 'your guys' fault' thus, including me."  
"You ARE A GUY!"  
"BUT IT IS NOT MY FAULT!"

The two were interrupted, thankfully, when the door to the sound proof room they were in opened and the Blanc's family butler walked in. "Forgive my interruption Young Master…however, it is getting late. I am going to head home for the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Blanc will be back home tomorrow evening." He said calmly as he looked at the two red faced teens. "Ms. Adams…have a nice evening."

_~Next Day~_

Harmony stood in the band room with the drum majors and their assistants. Next to her was Alex, who was literally holding the girl up and keeping her from falling asleep. The girl had refused to stop playing the entire night and she did not stop until 3 AM. But even now, she only had three of the cadences partially down. The main issue was either the longer notes or the rolls. She just could not grasp how to do a buzz roll. The lesser issue was that Andy had added cadences with a prominent bell part in them for the indoor drum line competitions, without a bell player, the cadences were boring. This meant that the entire line would have to learn a completely new set.

"…missing five first trumpets, three second trumpets, eight euphoniums and four tubas." The one drum major announced before he looked at Harmony and then to Alex, "Alex…how many drummers are you missing?"

The assistant drum line captain looked down at Harmony who had her eyes closed before turning and looking at the drum major and then the Band Director, "3 out of the 5 snares, the Bass Drum 1 player and 1 tenor. Harmony is moving to tenor, I am moving to snare and one of our cymbal players will move to take the bass drum part."

"But Harmony cannot play drums!" one of the Drum Major assistants shouted before they quickly covered their mouth, covering the outburst. But seeing everyone look at her, she lowered her hand. "I mean, all I hear from Mark is how bad she is and how she can barely play mallets." She added, not noticing a certain girl who was awoken by their first outburst.

With a groan, Harmony's eyes opened and she stood up straight, "Yeah…and look at where your precious boyfriend is now Carrie. He is now grounded, in trouble with the law and banned from practice probably for the remainder of this season and the next…heck, maybe until he goes off to college." The captain said calmly, "And I am not too shabby on mallets…better than any boy in the section." She added with a small smirk when the girl did not respond.

"Alright, alright! Stop your cat-fighting!" the band director muttered before he looked at the notepad, "Russel and Tonia are coming back from vacation tomorrow, they will be a lot of help to the trumpets. I'll contact the tuba and euphonium players that are not currently in the marching band and see if we can work around their conflicts…I think a few of them really wanted to be in the Marching band. As for woodwinds…we will have to move around and give out new parts to better fit the instrumentation. All of you are dismissed!" the director finished before turning to his pad of paper.

Letting the drum majors and their assistants out first, Harmony and Alex slowly left the office, "Did you have a nice nap?" Alex asked curiously as they left the band room, "Y you slept for most of the meeting."

"Staying awake until 3 AM will do that to you. I do not know how you are still awake and functioning…" the captain muttered before she stopped at a locker that had a newer door on it. Looking at it, her mind was flooded with thoughts from her Sophomore year of High School on the first night that she came back from skipping on the rehearsals and games.

~~Flashback~~

_The sound of wood clashing with metal, wood and a body was gut wrenching! It was even worse after reading a text message from a person telling you that your father had been involved in an accident and was now residing in the ICU at the local hospital. _

"_I don't give a ####! It's not like you all ever tried including her into your plans!" the voice of the captain shouted, "If anything, she has more balls then all of you combined. She has always lived in a father only house, her mother died while giving birth. Do you know how hard it is to constantly think that you are the reason you took your father's partner in life away? And even now, her father had been shot a half a year ago…instead of letting it get to her, she still showed up with a smile on her face! She is constantly smiling and being happy despite how shitty her ###### life is. Why in god's name do you think I would not choose someone else?" the shouting died down in the locker room and the faint noise of panting could be heard as the captain cooled down. "She is going to be captain for the next two years. Live with it or get off of my ###### line." _

_Perhaps for the girl, that was the best thing she could have heard before she read the text message again, finally letting its message take hold._

~~End Flashback~~

"…mony" The girl's eyes blinked several times before she looked at Alex and then back to the locker door, "You okay?" the boy asked.

With a small nod the girl tilted her head, "He had high hopes for me…but right now…I feel like I am letting him down." She murmured as she brushed her fingers across the fake wooden door. "Alex…what would Paul do?" she asked quietly.

Alex knew instantly what the girl was talking about. That was the scariest day in most of the boys' lives when Paul let loose on one of the bass drummers who had been insulting Harmony. "Well…firstly, he'd slap you for showing that kind of face. You were the one who constantly came in with a smiling face, no matter what happened. Then…he'd throw a flip shit on the drummers who are now banned…and he'd keep them banned."

"Then I'd just pull myself together and work with what I got." A voice finished as a person walked into the locker room, "Don't tell me that I interrupted something." The person added with a goofy smile.

"Paul!" Harmony exclaimed as she ran to the man, wrapping her arms around him, "Why are you here?"

* * *

Alright! Sorry for the delay! The class I had this last semester took a lot of time out of me. It felt like when I was not working, I was working on this class…anyways. Next semester should be better. Please read and review. But as for Harmony's issue with drums...that is the story of my life right now...so to anyone who says that the difficulty of rolling is non-existent...my friend, you are totally wrong.

PS: Paul was the captain before Harmony…


End file.
